Open Bar
by Malty
Summary: Trust Jack to make Gwen's wedding all about him. Really an excuse to look at the characters. Jack/Ianto and some Jack/Gwen, some humour, some romance, some angst - chapter six is alive!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **Hello and welcome! So I haven't seen the wedding episode, and now I come to write the summary I have absolutely no idea what compelled me to write about it from the pieces of trailer I've cobbled together – I'm pretty new to the world of authoring, and even newer to the world of Torchwood so I hope the characterisation isn't completely off-base. Feedback is appreciated, I apologise in advance for continuity errors or if I miss a headsmackingly obvious character fact; I've only seen about 3 episodes. Nonetheless I hope you get something out of this worth taking away.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing here other than vague ideas. Characters and world all belong to.. other people. Who I assume make money for it. I don't.

**Summary:** The wedding takes a back seat to the inherent drama of the Torchwood team. Unsurprisingly. Jack/Ianto, and God help me Jack/Gwen. AU as it doesn't follow the wedding in the show

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Something about Torchwood made you think that it was a world out of science-fiction. Maybe it was the way the majority of its activity occurred at night. Maybe it was the black SUV and the automatic connotation of mystery and power as it screeched around the corners of Cardiff. Maybe it was the fact that they actually physically fought aliens - whatever the reason, Torchwood was never something you associated with the mundane.

At least, not until you were on the inside.

That was what Jack thought as he lay in bed with the tea-boy on the morning of their co-workers wedding.

He'd been awake, or at least thinking consciously, for about an hour just contemplating the day ahead. He was not exactly looking forward to it. It was so unlike his normal days, or what passed for normal in his line of work. Torchwood had been so formal before Gwen came along, he couldn't imagine anything so social happening before her time, and as a result this was way outside his comfort zone. Now here they were, set to spend the day away from their desks, without a field mission, completely outside of their normal roles;

Owen was looking forward to what he viewed as an excuse to abuse an open bar, and most likely act like a dick to anyone within range. Tosh was just looking forward to an excuse to spend time with Owen. Ianto was stuck keeping a subtle eye on rift activity and making sure the others would be ready to up and leave if needed, and Jack's main duty was to play proud boss to Gwen without letting on exactly what Torchwood did, and of course to look damn good while doing it.

Okay, maybe not _completely_ outside their normal roles. Except Gwen he supposed, today was definitely out of the ordinary for her.

His thoughts had carried on in this vein since the alarm had gone off, as if looking at the day in theory would keep it from happening in practice. It was only when Ianto stirred next to him that he finally snapped out of it.

'Hey'

'Did the alarm go off?' Trust Ianto, organised from the second he woke up.

'Yeah, I thought I'd let you sleep' _Lie_

'What?! Uch I've got so much to do. Why didn't you wake me up?'

'Well you looked so peaceful.'

'Do I look peaceful now?'

'No..'

A moment passed.

'You look angry'

Ianto rolled his eyes at Jack and then his body out of bed, shaking his head and moving in that exaggerated way you do when you're trying to get things done at double speed. He walked into the bathroom and Jack sighed slightly, all too aware that now Ianto was awake there was no avoiding the day anymore. He was going to have to actually get up and face it. He sat slowly up, approaching every movement with a kind of lethargy that directly opposed Ianto's frantic pace.

'Are you getting up?' You could even hear it in his voice as he called out.

'What's the rush?' Jack replied lazily, knowing he was really hoping to cause a fight to distract himself.

'Why don't you ask Gwen when we're late', Ianto shot back darkly.

_Damn he has me there_.

Ianto could be a total bitch if he wanted to, but he wasn't above using others to get the job done for him. The fear of a seriously stressed out Gwen was more than enough to get Jack moving and he stood up ready to get dressed and wake up properly, reflecting as he did just how well Ianto had done his job for the day in the five minutes he'd been awake.

'Jack! You're still not ready!'

Jack turned around, 'Ianto we don't have to be there for-' He trailed off and stared at the man in front of him. 'How.. How did you do that?'

Ianto was fully dressed and washed, looking fantastic as always in one of his suits, no indication in his demeanor whatsoever that less than ten minutes ago he'd been completely unconscious. Jack hadn't even seem him move towards his clothes.

Ianto just stared back at him as if he were trying to stall. 'Jack come on we have to get going.' He walked out of the room leaving Jack looking around him as if an explanation for his lover's superhuman speed would spring from the furniture. When the headboard failed to provide an adequate clarification he shrugged slightly and set about pulling himself together and getting into character.

He approached the daily challenge of saving the world with a fierce determination and cavalier confidence; today was only a wedding.

He listened to the sound of Ianto rushing around outside.

Jack wasn't sure his usual arsenal would be enough.

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**A/N; **Well thanks for reading, hope you like it so far, or at least enough to want to continue reading! If you so wish I promise some actual plot and action, I think the day's gonna speed up from here!

**(P.S.** I figured out what compelled me to write this – dissertation is due in next Friday. So naturally I must apply myself to anything but.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N; **Wow I'm so surprised by the response this got – you guys rule! If I saw you in the pub I would totally give each and every one of you the cool-guy nod-with-eyebrow-raised. I've written quite far ahead, it's only the first few chapters that need writing, (yes this is my backwards logic). One more week to go of work and then the updates will dramatically increase – until then I'm either working, or passed out in a bar somewhere. I like to think of it as research.

Not much actually happens in this chapter I warn you now, it's really more of a bonus thankyou scenelet to tide you over - and me, who are we kidding!

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The SUV really lost it's sense of mystery and power when it sat quietly in traffic. It made Jack sad to see something capable of such flair so still; it needed to be commanding the streets, making an entrance. Ianto just didn't understand how to use it to gain the necessary effect.

_Effect isn't necessary when sat in traffic_, Ianto had argued.

No, Jack concluded, Ianto just didn't understand drama.

Ianto had spent the next twenty minutes imbuing his silence with a level of frostiness which proved that, in fact, he understood it rather well.

Nonetheless he'd calmed down considerably since the morning, content now that he was back on schedule. In fact all his running around was quite in vein considering he spent the next half an hour waiting for Jack. That was just Ianto; he was the brother that ran circles around you on school mornings while you were in your Pjs just so he could sit ready in the car and smirk when you got told off. Of course such a comparison was lost on Jack, who as the only other person around was less impressed than slightly bemused, and as the boss couldn't really be told off.

Ianto was driving them, seeing as they'd both be returning to the hub anyway. There had been talk of him taking the whole team, (bar Gwen of course), for the sake of convenience. Ianto had very pleasantly asked who, exactly, this was convenient for, and on failing to find his name in the list had mysteriously disappeared for the remainder of the day, forcing Owen and Tosh to make their own arrangements. It was probably for the best; the image of Ianto driving them all home in various states of disrepair was just too.. Well in all honesty Jack found it adorable, but didn't dare mention it. At least, he wouldn't until the end of the day when the lift couldn't be revoked.

They'd checked all the scanners before they left to make sure Cardiff was not about to explode, and Ianto was taking portable equipment with them to keep informed. Jack had offered to do it, thinking what a good distraction it would be, but Ianto had been strangely insistent. When questioned he'd just said it would help appearances – Jack drew peoples attention, if he was running off saving the world it would look suspicious. Ianto on the other hand could slip off quietly and at worse he'd come off as a little unsociable. It was a good point, so Jack had accepted it without feeling the need to examine how he might not have agreed quite so quickly had it come up in a work context and not in bed.

They didn't make a habit of mixing work with pleasure, so to speak, but well – Jack's bedroom was in the hub. Ianto worked for him, their mutual friends all worked with them. They were currently stuck in traffic on the way to their co-workers wedding, and- _mundane, mundane, mundane!_

He wondered if that was why this day was bothering him so much. Who was he kidding in thinking the bleeding of Torchwood into their personal lives was in any way unusual?

He was thankfully pulled out of his thoughts by Ianto's hand on his knee. He was tilting his head at him in a questioning fashion – apparently he'd been forgiven for the drama-comment.

'You okay?'

Jack smiled at him and placed his hand over Ianto's, nodding, then leaned over and kissed him softly. 'Yeah I'm good.' Ianto smiled back and they sat in content silence for a long moment until Ianto shifted his attention to the road.

'Ah, finally we're getting somewhere', he said seeing the cars in front of them begin to move. Jack murmured his agreement, but was interrupted by the sudden and incredibly loud sound of angry horns in the air.

'Jack?'

'Hmmm?'

'I sort of need my hand back.'

'Oh right – sorry.' Jack reluctantly released his hand allowing him to shift into first and start the slow crawl forwards as a few dissenters continued to beep at them insistently.

Even when he wasn't driving the SUV, Jack knew how to create drama.

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**A/N;** So thanks for reading! Hope you're enjoying it so far – drop me a line if you feel so inclined. I know, it's a wedding fic and 2 chapters in we're yet to reach the church, I need to be shot. Next chapter will see some actual wedding action and more of the team, promise!


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N;** Apologies folks this has taken me forever to update – I put it to you that you do not repeatedly yell at your laptop, 'Just make it to Thursday, then you can die!', because Friday 8pm, it will do just that. And believe me if I knew I had the power to control technology through my words I would sit in front of Torchwood commanding things I can't even_ hint _at here for fear I'll need to raise the rating.

There's more A/N-ness but it was getting obscenely long and indulgent so I've moved it to the end where you can skip it if you wish.

* * *

It had taken another twenty minutes, or approximately 17 strings of dark muttering on Ianto's part to reach their destination. Jack had caught the words, '..Cardiff like the back of my hand..', '..bright idea..', and, '..-cking SUV that doesn't fit down side-streets!', and decided he'd never found his own shoes so interesting.

They'd been given a reserved parking space, much to Rhys' very vocal protestation. They'd stocked the car before leaving the hub, just in case, (as Jack hoped), they were called away at short notice. It looked utterly out of place in the small car park, surrounded by family estates and reliable runabouts. Jack stood waiting as Ianto locked up, and felt a melancholy sense of connection with the SUV. Ianto on the other hand looked perfectly in his element here, dressed in a suit as always he could have been investigating rift activity at the church. He strolled over and gave Jack that questioning look again as if sensing his consternation, but Jack just smiled and gestured around himself, picking out the one thing that he knew could distract any member of the British public.

'Nice weather for it.'

Ianto looked up at the clear blue sky and frowned. 'Not for long.'

'What do you mean?'

'There's a storm coming.'

Jack looked around in disbelief. 'How do you know?'

'The Welsh have a natural connection to the weather.'

_'Really_?'

'Yes. _And_, I read it on the scanners.'

Ianto tilted his head as he spoke and spotted Tosh outside the church, looking as though she were waiting for someone. How she could have missed the SUV approaching was beyond Jack. They reached her just as Owen arrived causing her to pat down her, (rather beautiful), dress self-consciously, and Jack realised that of course she'd never been waiting for_ them_ anyway.

If Owen saw her smiling he didn't return it. 'Do you know how far I had to walk to get here? It would've been faster from my front door!'

'12 blocks', replied Ianto.

'What?'

'How far you had to walk, 12 blocks.'

Having spent the entire morning with him Jack knew there was no way Ianto had been tracking Owen, and the fact that the doctor didn't deny his estimate only strengthened his theory that Ianto's towering wealth of knowledge was at least partially fueled by impressive guesswork.

Owen began extolling the virtues of reserved parking and how wonderful it would have been if he personally could have benefited from it when Jack noticed Tosh bouncing slightly on the balls of her feet, the expression on her face indicating she was seconds away from putting her hand up to get the mens attention. He cut over the other two, glad for a reason to stop yet another argument over the SUV from gathering steam.

'Tosh what is it?'

'Well I was just going to say walking wouldn't have made a difference; the wedding's been postponed.'

A student discovering that the assignment they were yet to begin was no longer due in the next day could not have felt more relief than Jack in that moment.

'It's been called-off?'

'No, just pushed back a few hours. Apparently there's a storm on the way and this building's pretty old, they don't want to risk lightning striking mid-vow.'

Whatever the exact opposite of that relief was, Jack felt. It was a lot of emotion to take in the space of 10 seconds.

'Well that's just great', Owen was saying, 'what are we supposed to do until then?

Tosh seemed to glow slightly as she held all the information. 'Reception's just across the street, they're opening up early for us.'

'Open bar?'

'I believe so.'

'Well, that's just great! What are we waiting for?'

Tosh laughed and walked with Owen as Ianto listed some facts about licensing hours to anyone who would listen, before falling quiet and pulling a device designed to look like a phone from his inner pocket.

Jack didn't dare raise his hopes for fear he couldn't handle watching them get dashed again so quickly. 'What's up?'

'Not sure', Ianto was frowning and backing up as he spoke. 'It could just be interference from the storm. You go ahead I'll check it out.' He looked up and gave Jack an encouraging smile before turning around and heading back to the car leaving Jack no choice but to reluctantly follow the stream of guests across the street.

There was a time, he reflected, that the phrase, 'open bar', matched with, 'Jack Harkness', would have been followed by a lengthy rap sheet and several warrants. Nowadays it didn't really mean anything to him; once people heard you were a Captain you never paid for drinks anyway.

He didn't know how he'd missed this storm everyone was on about, though he imagined it had something to do with living underground. By the time he crossed the street the sky had begun to cloud over a turbulent shade of grey, and he thought he saw a flash in the corner of his vision. He wondered if the universe had any more subtle omens waiting for him inside.

Of course, had he known that on the other side of the street Ianto stood wide-eyed having just witnessed all their rift-monitors simultaneously short-circuit, he might not have been quite so flippant about it.

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**A/N;** Feedback really means an inordinate amount to me, but if not many thanks for reading anyways!

I'm pretty sure I followed Tomkat's advice and didn't accidentally write any Jack/Ianto in my dissertation, but even if I did I'm not checking. May I offer that you do not write a story called 'Open Bar', in such circumstances when in the aftermath the thought of a bar will reduce you to a quivering wreck, which coupled with the Laptop Issues forms my excuse for not updating. Big love to all who have reviewed, story alerted, favourited; you're all stars, (and extra doses to kateg123 and Dizzypebble for their kind words).


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N;** Longest chapter yet folks! May be higher rated due to language. Between my housemates and the builders who have conspired to torture me sleep is out of the question, and this is the result. Enjoy my suffering, I deserve it for leaving it so long to update.

Now with added plot.

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Never put all your electrical Rift-monitoring devices in one out-of-place SUV.

Somehow it lacked the ring of, 'eggs in a basket.'

Ianto looked around the car park to make sure no one had seen the mass of equipment in the boot. At least that's what he told himself, but the fact was the malfunction had occurred inside the car and so he was secretly expecting a member of a rescue service to turn up uncalled, and was irrationally disappointed when they didn't.

If there was any such thing as a Rift Monitor Rescue Service, he supposed, he was it. He was the cavalry.

As if fearing his frustration simply wasn't enough for dramatic effect it started to rain, and in the five seconds it took him to notice this fact it had run through the spectrum from drizzle to ark-building weather. He groaned to himself as he slammed the car shut and ran for the church's shelter, thoroughly irritated with this day already. Inside the place was deserted, and he was all too aware that the authority provided to him by his suit was null and void in this situation where everyone was in formal dress, as was the aid of the headsets which they'd decided would look too conspicuous. By all accounts, he was just another guest.

He found his phone and dialled for Jack, feeling slightly phased by how out-of-context that was. He didn't usually use his phone to contact Jack for anything Torchwood related. It blurred the remarkably thin boundaries of their established relationship, and it was just plain impractical to be screwing around with network providers when your work was as important as theirs was. Besides which Jack was notoriously useless at answering, usually too occupied with whatever he was doing. Which was why Ianto was pleasantly surprised when he picked up almost immediately.

'Ianto.'

'Jack, we have a bit of a situation.'

'Where are you?'

'I'm in the church.'

'I'll be right there.'

Jack hung up before Ianto had a chance to warn him about the rain, but it wasn't like he would turn up looking disheveled. He was just made of Teflon that way.

Ianto looked around. The church was suitably impressive, old and ornate, and he found himself wandering through to the back rooms without really thinking – it was just his training to scout out any new locations. It wasn't until he heard raised voices that he thought maybe he should have stayed where he was; he'd walked through a corridor and out of all the rooms lining it he'd managed to stumble on to the one containing Rhys, Gwen, and what sounded like a blazing row between them.

'..any excuse to put this off! If you don't want it Gwen you should just say rather than hiding behind _bloody Torchwood!_'

'I am not! Hiding! _You're_ the one who brought my job into this!'

'Oh your_ job _is it?!'

Ianto started to back away, feeling even more like he was intruding now that Torchwood had been dragged into the argument, but it was too late – a few muffled obscenities later Rhys stormed out of the room looking furious, and narrowly avoided walking straight into him. Ianto froze, and on realising just how suspicious he looked settled for mustering a polite smile. Rhys for his part was dignified enough not to call attention to the fact that Ianto had clearly been in the middle of backing away from the door, simply rolling his eyes and choosing to storm in the other direction. Ianto breathed a silent sigh of relief that at least his presence hadn't been revealed to Gwen.

He was interrupted by the sudden ringing of his phone, amplified in the wide corridor, simultaneously causing him to leap about an inch into the air and alerting Gwen that someone was outside the door.

He looked at his phone. _**Jack Calling**_.

Of course.

He tried to be quiet.

'Yes?'

'What? Ianto I can't hear you. Where are you?'

Ianto raised his voice.

'Sorry, I'm in one of the side corridors, just stay there I'll come to you.'

Gwen's voice echoed from behind the door. 'Ianto?'

_Shit._

'Yes?'

'Ianto?'

'Jack?'

'What?'

This was ridiculous, he didn't even know who was speaking anymore.

'Jack, _stay there_.'

'Ianto I can't hear you, I'm coming to find you.'

Jack hung up, and Ianto ran his hands through his hair.

_Well that couldn't have gone any better._

'Ianto?'

Oh yes, Gwen.

'Hello.'

'Is everything okay?'

His voice sounded more terse than he intended. 'Yes everything's fine Gwen, not to worry.'

'Are you sure? You don't need my help?'

'No, no you've uh.. You've got a wedding to get ready for!'

He hoped the tone of optimism would disguise the fact he'd overheard her fight with Rhys.

She sounded disillusioned. 'Yeah, you're right.'

There seemed to be no natural ending to their exchange, and he bit his lip and looked up, searching desperately for something reassuring and yet non intrusive to say in this awkward moment.

'..Would you like some coffee?'

'Oo yes please love.'

'Right just a minute.'

He turned his back to the door and for a second they both stood frowning on either side of it as they realised that he didn't work here, and had no idea where the coffee-making facilities were. Then he set off with a slight shrug, figuring he was bound to find them eventually. His mother had always said, 'In any situation find the kettle first, the rest will sort itself out', and he swore he'd developed a sixth sense for it as a result.

He tried to no avail to get hold of Jack again, so caught up in his attempts he didn't even realise he'd stumbled into a kitchenette until he was halfway through boiling the kettle. He resigned himself to stay put, if Jack was looking for him he was best off staying in one place.

He leaned against the counter. It was the first still moment he'd had today that wasn't spent in traffic.

In an odd way he felt quite content to be doing this, he could almost pretend he was back in the hub. It wasn't that he couldn't handle being outside of it; in fact he'd spent so much time there in the last year that he was glad of an excuse to leave. This wasn't a field mission though, nor was it a day off. It was some surreal place in between, where Jack was still in charge of the team but Gwen was, in a fashion, in charge of him. It made Ianto uncertain, and he was pretty sure Jack felt the same way.

Torchwood wasn't supposed to breed routine, but now it was broken they all felt its absence.

Speaking of broken, they were going to have to figure out what to do now the rift monitors were out of commission. He didn't even know what had happened, lightning had struck what must have been less than a mile away and he would think that must have fried the equipment if he didn't know Tosh had set them to be protected from electrical surges. He checked his pocket, thinking maybe the portable device he carried was unaffected. He held it in front of his face but no such luck; it was going absolutely nuts, as if there was an alien convention taking place mere feet from him.

Sighing he lowered it, and jolted slightly as it cleared his vision to reveal Gwen standing in the doorway. She looked like she was halfway through getting ready, which she probably was, and she was regarding him strangely. He guessed the fight with Rhys had really shaken her up.

'Gwen, I was just bringing this to you,' he finished making the coffee as he spoke.

She walked stiffly towards him, mimicking his mild expression. He frowned, and a second later so did she. That was weird, was he missing something?

'..Is everything okay?'

She stared at him, and then, very slowly, she repeated the words back with the exact same inflection, a look on her face as if she'd never heard them before.

'..Is everything okay?'

She cocked her head, and now he was well and truly creeped out. He reached out to touch her arm, trying to make her snap out of whatever bizarre trance she was in, but again she copied him, faster this time, meeting his hand mid-air. He looked from his hand to her face and found her eyes were moving back and forth subtly, as if she was reading something. He tried to take his hand back, but she held it in place.

'Gwen–'

He pulled back harder, but couldn't get free. This wasn't right, she shouldn't be strong enough to hold him. He was suddenly desperate, moving his other arm to help pull the trapped one back when he saw what was happening, and it took him a second to understand what he was seeing– electric blue currents were running silently from Gwen's hand into his.

_What the fuck?!_

'Gwen!'

Genuinely scared now he tried again to shake her off but she stayed firm, all the while her eyes out of focus. Seeing she wasn't going to listen he clutched blindly at the counter searching for anything to help him, grabbing the first object he found frantically and swinging it with a great deal of effort; it was the kettle. It connected with Gwen's arm sending her stumbling sideways, breaking her hold on him, and he flung his arm up to shield himself from the boiling water that spilled out, feeling some soak in through his jacket.

He stood with one hand on the counter, the other weighed down by the still dripping kettle, breathing heavily as he tried to piece together what had just happened. Gwen had been thrown into the counter, and she was leaning against it facing away from him, giving no reaction to the fact he'd just hit her.

He stayed at a distance, then asked after her shakily.

'Gwen?'

Still nothing.

Without letting go of his newfound weapon, he moved towards her carefully, then with the speed of someone removing a plaster he spun her around.

Water had splashed on her exposed arm, the skin searing white, and before he could even register his guilt that he'd done that to her the skin began to change, morphing into brick red where the water had touched it and then vivid purple spreading out rapidly in every direction from the burn. In seconds it covered her arm, and she turned to survey it, confusion showing in her expression. Wordlessly she looked up at Ianto, who stared back at her, horrified, as the colour spread from under her collar up into her face.

He continued to stare, entranced, as all the visible skin that had changed colour began to change texture too, becoming papery and following the spread from the burn. 'What the–'

He was cut off mid-sentence as his words seemed to wake her out of her reverie and without warning she lunged at him – automatically he shot to the side and the Rift monitor fell, crashing to the floor, almost drowned out by cursing words that didn't sound human.

_Purple skin, blue currents, inhuman strength.._

She turned. The monitor flashed wildly.

She went for him again.

_That's not Gwen._

He ducked to his side, and moving so fast he wasn't sure what was happening he caught her in the head with the kettle as she passed. For an agonising moment she stood stock still, her skin completely changed now, and then she fell to the floor, no longer resembling Gwen or any other human.

The Rift monitor continued to sound urgently from the floor.

Ianto crept slowly forwards, nudging the creature with his foot. It didn't move. His wits began to trickle back and he snapped into Torchwood mode, eyes darting around to make sure no one had seen. He closed the curtains and looked quickly through the kitchen, finding some frayed twine at the back of one of the cupboards. He tied the creatures arms behind its back, keeping as much distance between them as possible while handling it. Satisfied he'd done as much as he could he finally silenced the monitor, and left the room. Then just as quickly he ducked back in to grab the mug of coffee.

He walked out again closing the door behind him, a little wide-eyed and with no idea where he was headed. _Jack_, he thought, and went to try calling him before realising both hands were still clutching the mug. Just then a surprised voice called his name and the coffee was taken from his hand – he followed it up to see Jack stood in front of him, thanking him for the drink. In different circumstances Ianto might have been concerned by the fact that there was apparently no context in which Jack didn't expect to find him holding coffee, but as it was he just pointed with his newly freed hand to the kitchen.

Jack opened the door, and immediately got serious as he surveyed the darkened scene. Ianto joined him in the doorway. 'It looked like Gwen.'

Jack frowned, then mirroring Ianto's earlier reaction Torchwood mode took over.

'We need to secure this room. What happened?'

Ianto shook his head. 'It looked like Gwen, it attacked me but, water seems to hurt it. Made it change into..' he gestured at the still creature.

Jack raised his eyebrows. 'Water?'

Ianto nodded, still a little shaken. 'I hit it.'

'With what?'

'A kettle.'

Jack looked at Ianto.

Ianto looked at Jack.

Jack handed him back the mug and immediately made a call, soon instructing Owen to collect some gear from the SUV and to send Tosh over too. Ianto quickly thought to interject about the Rift-monitoring equipment, and Jack acknowledged his aggravation by throwing his hand up in an, 'of _course_', type of motion as he relayed the message. He began to pace and as he continued to hand out orders Ianto stood in silence once again, looking into the kitchen with a kind of disbelief at the sprawled alien before him.

Jack finished off and maneuvered round him, pointedly pulling the door shut so no one could see in. The last thing Ianto's eyes fell on was the kettle.

_Bloody Hell,_ he thought as he stared at the closed door.

_My mother was right._

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**A/N; **You're probably sick of me thanking you for reading, but you have my thanks anyway, so Ha. Further thanks to everyone whose taken time to review, hope you'll consider doing so for this chapter!


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N; **Hello lovely folks! Sincere Apologies for lateness in posting. Through a series of circumstances too blockheaded to go into I have been barbarically kept from the internet for almost a month. I'm not happy about it, but my net-issues are neither here nor there to you, and so I present what that much web-deprivation does to me in the form of this chapter! In the meantime I was thinking about the sarcasm of Ianto, as you do, and I have no idea how I happen to have seen it but I remember this scene where he was really going for it, and he kept yelling at Owen, 'The phones! Aren't working!', and it made me laugh for about ten minutes. I couldn't resist a callback to it.

* * *

If you ignored the fact that they were stood in a church kitchen of sorts, it was a fairly standard Torchwood meeting. Ianto and Jack were joined by Owen and Tosh surrounding the humanoid body; if you squinted you could almost imagine they were back in Owen's lab.

Of course in Owen's lab they'd have resources to help them, and it was never going to be that easy. They were lucky Tosh was a genius, and whether you interpret, 'they', as Torchwood or humanity as a whole is only a matter of perspective. She'd taken one look at the state of the rift monitor and gone into the stream of muttering that meant she was thinking but had no access to her computers. She'd ended up asking Owen for help in decoding the rift monitors findings, leaving Ianto on the receiving end of Jack's ranting about how he knew it was stupid to put the entire team in this situation. Whenever he paused for breath Ianto dutifully recycled his earlier sentiment that facing Gwen if they hadn't all attended the wedding would have been more dangerous than anything they faced in their line of work, and just for kicks he added in some new material about how Gwen was their friend and it was only right they were here to show their support.

His heart wasn't in it. Jack was steamrolling right over everything he said anyway, so he gave up before making it to the crux of his argument; that the wedding reinforced how new Gwen still was to Torchwood, and maybe the real reason Jack didn't like it was because it highlighted just how jaded the rest of them had become since joining. Hey, if Jack wasn't going to listen, he wasn't going to waste his keen insight.

Fortunately they were interrupted by Owen's dulcet tones proclaiming that yes, in fact, it was DNA code.

From their side Jack posed the requisite, 'What?'

'DNA code, that, _thing_ was reading DNA. It's what we'd call a shapeshifter. Like a walking photocopier.'

Tosh stepped in, no doubt affronted by Owen's attempt at a scientific explanation. 'You see this patch here', she pointed to the unconscious creatures leg, where the skin had changed colour yet again. This time it had turned light grey, similar enough to the floor it was touching to look like a distorted reflection. 'It seems to be healing at a fantastic rate. The healthy skin is trying to match the surroundings, probably some sort of evolutionary camouflage.'

'What does that have to do with DNA?'

'It reads it in the same way, only much more advanced obviously. Rather than just mimicking colour it takes on a new form, but it has to _touch_ whatever it's copying–'

Owen threw out his hands, 'Like I said. Photocopier!'

'–in the case of people, it needs their DNA. That must be why it attacked you Ianto, you interrupted it's DNA scanning.'

In spite of the business-like nature of the conversation, Ianto took a moment to sound roundly horrified.

'It didn't finish though, so if it didn't finish reading it can't copy me, right?'

Tosh shrugged apologetically. 'I'm afraid we don't know enough about it to tell.'

Owen nodded. 'We'd need to get it back to the hub for further testing, but the fact it went for Ianto tells us one important fact. Wherever this thing comes from..' He looked around seriously. 'They clearly have no sense of taste whatsoever.'

Jack intervened loudly before Ianto and Owen could get into the swing of a no-doubt epic slanging match.

'**How** did it get to Gwen's DNA in the first place then? Ianto knew straight away it was an imposter.'

Ianto winced, he'd omitted the exacts of how long it had taken him to figure out the creature wasn't Gwen. Now that they knew a shapeshifter was involved it seemed in retrospect blindingly obvious, but he tried to formulate a theory nonetheless.

'Well the speech really gave it away, it obviously only copies appearance not your mind,' _thank God_, 'but it only spoke because I did. If Gwen's been shaking hands with well-wishers all day she might not have had a chance to hear it speak.'

Owen looked disbelievingly, 'You really think she wouldn't notice her hand getting fried?'

Ianto looked back at him witheringly, 'Owen, just because _you've_ never observed social traditions doesn't mean Gwen's guests haven't.' He turned to the rest of the team. 'This many guests, it could have been anyone.'

They all fell quiet as the chilling implications settled on them. All except Jack, who sounded a little too happy that they had a case to solve. 'Tosh you said the portable monitors in the SUV should be protected from electrical surges? Maybe this was no ordinary storm.'

Tosh nodded, 'It would make sense. An electrical storm could be fabricated as a cover for their arrival, or it could be an unintentional by-product.'

'Okay Tosh I want you to see if you can fix the rest of the monitors; we don't want to miss any Rift-disasters because we're here dealing with shapeshifting brides.'

He put enough emphasis on the last two words to let them all acknowledge that yes, the situation was ridiculous, but in this job ridiculous and dangerous were not mutually exclusive.

It seemed ridiculous was taking the lead though, as Jack's position as boss led him to voice the next order which they were all keen to avoid.

'We can't investigate if this place is crawling with guests. We'll need to keep–'

_He wants someone to talk to Gwen._

Ianto shouted a bit louder than he'd intended, 'Not it!'

Whether Owen and Tosh caught on as fast as he had or were just acting out of self-preservation he didn't know. Apparently neither did Jack, who by the looks of it had never had three adults yell, 'not it!', in near unison at him before.

'..What?'

Tosh averted her gaze bashfully. 'I should um– the monitors.' She made for the door and was followed by Owen, who said something about resurrecting chivalry. They were barely out the door before Jack turned to Ianto, who spoke preemptively.

'I'll secure the area, Sir. It would be dangerous otherwise.'

Jack was well within his rights to send Ianto in his place, but now he was in a position where saying it would mean admitting he didn't want to face Gwen himself. In order to avoid that form of defeat, Jack only hesitated for a second before leaving the room too.

Ianto allowed himself a small smile. To the untrained observer he'd just landed himself with dogsbody duty, but then the untrained observer had clearly never fought with Gwen.

* * *

Jack flashed back to his conversation with Ianto. He really wished he'd forced him to talk to Gwen instead.

This level of silence in such a crowded room would have been downright impressive if it weren't so intimidating. The fact that an entire church full of people were staring at him didn't bother Jack, he was far too used to attention to be phased by it. No, it wasn't the number of people, but rather the individual expressions on their faces causing him concern. They put him in mind of a long ago encounter with some particularly unreasonable villagers which he had no desire to recreate.

He was standing at the front of the church having just addressed the forbidding crowd. He could see his team near the back, no doubt ready to slip away at the first sign of trouble. No use looking to their row for support; Owen was avoiding his gaze, seconds away from cracking up. Tosh had sunk so far down into the pew he could only see the top of her head, and Ianto had pulled the evil-genius move of looking straight back at him as if they'd never met. Even under the spotlight he made a mental note that Ianto would have to pay for that.

_So much for team loyalty._

For two attractive people, the argument between Jack and Gwen had not been pretty. Arguments never are, but he was surprised the language in this particular one hadn't encouraged the storm to circle back round specifically to strike them down. This was a church after all.

He had explained the situation to Gwen, and perhaps unsurprisingly she wasn't impressed when he had, (rather boorishly it must be noted), insisted the best course of action would be to postpone the wedding to another day. Volatile story short, they'd been interrupted by none other than Rhys, who apparently didn't want to, 'get married angry'. Jack had been too busy glaring daggers at Gwen to take that on board.

He'd definitely heard what she'd said next though.

_'Jack, would you mind delaying our guests? Rhys and I need to sort some things out.'_

The story would definitely change in the retelling such that he had ordered her to let him clear the guests out rather than the other way around, but it got the job done, so Jack had left them to it. Evidently the fact that he had died at the hands of Abaddon was not enough to prove to his team that they really should listen to him.

Still, physical violence would be easier than facing the crowd in front of him. He and Gwen had argued so long that the guests had filtered back over from the reception, and now he'd broken it to them that once again they had to go back. That was how he came to be standing here in what was in reality only a few seconds of silence but felt like an awkward eternity thanks to the simple question the woman in the front row repeated at him.

'Why? Why should we leave again?'

He'd been so fired up he hadn't had time to formulate a cover story, and he didn't think, 'because Gwen thinks she can out-stubborn me', was going to fly with the older woman who looked startlingly similar to Gwen now he saw her properly.

'Is this one of those cop jokes? I keep telling her she doesn't have to be part of the lads crowd.'

Jack would have thought the coat was a dead giveaway that if anything he was military but knew better than to say it. Sadly, only part of his brain could be sensible at a time, and Gwen _had_ been vague as to what exactly he could say to delay them..

Jack could always pretend after that he'd come up with his following explanation on the spur of the moment, but anyone looking closely would have seen the sly smile that formed on his face a second before, giving away that he knew exactly what he was doing.

* * *

Ianto thought the bar seemed better suited to the increasingly irate crowd of Gwen's guests than the church, which between Gwen, Rhys and Jack had likely witnessed more blazing rows in the course of the last few hours than it had since it was built. Wishing to avoid any more such rows Ianto had accompanied Owen and Tosh with the rest of the crowd back to the reception, and watched as everyone moved to reclaim what he assumed were their original spots. He wasn't the least bit surprised to find that Owen's spot was practically on the bar, nor that Tosh' was next to Owen. He leaned against the corner of the bar waiting for Jack to contact them; he'd been cornered by Gwen's mother after his less than savoury explanation of the delay. Knowing the smart thing to do was not to run off and cause suspicion didn't stop Ianto feeling somewhat at a loss now he'd snapped into and back out of Torchwood-mode; Tosh seemed similarly jarred now that she had a technical quandry to work through but no equipment to work with. Owen on the other hand didn't seem to carry the same cares. Ianto had pointed out as much on the way over only for Owen to shoot back that given the mix of alcohol and angry relatives his services were bound to be required soon.

The worst part of the day so far was accepting that Owen was probably right. The three of them had been distinctly quiet ever since, and it was Tosh who broke first.

'We should have helped him.'

Owen groaned, 'Tosh, it's Jack. Do you honestly think he cares the if whole church was staring at him? I'm surprised he didn't write his number on his forehead.'

Tosh rolled her eyes and looked to Ianto, imploring him to back her up.

Ianto shrugged distractedly, unable to give her the answer she wanted but not wanting to slap her down either.

'He was as good as dead already, Tosh. No use taking us down with him.'

'It wasn't us he took down, I can't believe he said that!' Owen and Ianto shared a moment of rare solidarity as they both looked at her with a healthy amount of disbelief that she'd put anything past Jack. Tosh relented, perching on a bar stool a little closer than was strictly necessary to Owen and leaning against the bar. 'I suppose you're right. All the guests looked so scary.. Give me aliens any day.'

Ianto nodded, 'I'd take the blowfish over an angry welsh family.'

'Ianto, you're welsh.'

'Exactly, I speak from bitter experience.'

'None of that in stock I'm afraid,' piped a new voice from behind him. 'Plenty of other bitters to choose from though.' Owen lept in to order before Ianto realised he'd just confused the daylights out of the poor barmaid. He declined Owen's offer of a drink as he was essentially the designated driver, ('Not for me you ain't'), and they were spared a few minutes of wondering how events in the church were getting on before Tosh started again.

'Where do you think he is now?'

Owen muttered into his glass. 'Rate he was moving? Bristol.'

Ianto smiled reassuringly at Tosh. 'Don't worry about Jack. Even if they kill him he'll come out okay.'

Tosh smirked, 'Good point.'

Sensing the mood turning Owen grinned. 'Exactly! We did nothing wrong, and now we get to sit here enjoying this wonderful open bar.' He handed Tosh a drink jovially and she took it, looking genuinely pleased. Ianto shifted next to them and pulled out his phone, hunching over and frowning at it, causing Tosh to look at him inquisitively.

'You okay, Ianto?'

'The phone isn't working.'

Owen gave an involuntary shudder.

Ianto turned to leave and shot a cover story over his shoulder about getting some air. He heard Tosh start to call after him but Owen cut over her. 'No come on Tosh, you can't leave me drinking alone while he's off in a cupboard with Jack giving–'

Ianto left the bar, leaving with it the hustling sounds of a large group of people drinking in one space. The network signal picked up almost immediately and straight away he received a call from Jack.

'Church. Now.'

Judging by his tone the confrontation with Gwen's mother had not gone well.

Ianto found Jack in the church kitchen which he was horribly certain had become their base for the day. The shapesfhifter was hidden under a blanket that had been covering a table. Jack carefully lifted it to check on the creature; limp and quiet still, the only sign of life was the grey colouring which encompassed it's whole leg now, and the patchwork pattern that was forming on the other leg where the blanket had covered it. Ianto almost felt bad for it, bound and shoved away like this. For all they knew it had only been trying to make contact, after all not all visitors to Earth knew the customs, massive misunderstandings were to be expected.

It had attacked him though, and evolutionary mechanism or not it was essentially stealing DNA. He couldn't help but feel creeped out by that.

Jack shook his head. 'I thought you said you were securing this room.'

'I did.'

'A blanket?!'

Ianto made sure he sounded professional enough to make Jack realise his mistake in doubting him. 'Tosh managed to rig some perimeter sensors, if anything with more than one type of DNA code tries to leave this room the rift monitor tells us. Judging by its vitals and assuming they're relatively close to ours, it's not going to wake up for hours. Owen thinks it won't wake up until it's fully healed anyway. As long as we keep an eye on it..'

'And you think a cleaning sign will be enough to stop anybody from coming in here and finding it?'

Ianto stared at him levelly. 'I do.'

Jack eyed him. 'Fine, but one of us should stay here to make sure until this is over. Seeing as I won't exactly be giving the toast it might as well be me.'

Ianto smirked at the memory of why Jack was in hot water, and instantly regretted it as he saw the troublesome smile from the incident make a reapparance on Jack's face.

'Which would leave you to go and update Gwen.'

_Damnit._

Ianto didn't flinch. 'I'll make sure she gets all the details.'

Jack's smile disappeared. 'You wouldn't.'

'Jack, you told the entire church she was _sorting_ Rhys.'

'Sounds innocent to me.'

'Coming from anyone else it would have been, but with that expression? You said it in front of her mother!'

'Actually I said it _to _her mother, everyone else just happened to overhear.. What! I said exactly what she told me to say!'

'Really?'

'Well.. Maybe not exactly.' Jack flashed his trademark grin, and Ianto knew he could have stood up there and drawn diagrams of what he insinuated Rhys and Gwen were doing and still he wouldn't feel guilty.

Ianto raised his eyebrows at how bad Jack had been. 'Well then. I'll have to sort _you_ later.'

He smiled suggestively and left before Jack had a chance to respond. He wasn't happy he had to go and break it to Gwen that rather than being delayed for a few minutes her guests had once again vacated the premises, _and_ the alien situation was no closer to getting resolved, but he wasn't surprised either. Jack and Gwen just could not be trusted together, he supposed it was inevitable he'd have to sort them out.

Wait, that didn't sound right. Not sort them like Jack had meant, that was the last thing this day needed.

Ianto cursed Jack for his ability to make even the most trivial phrase sound adult-rated, and headed for Gwen's ready-room hoping he wasn't walking into what must be the fourth fight it would see that day.

This was a church after all.

* * *

**A/N;** Reviews can help ensure the next update is faster than this one! As you've probably guessed by now I suck at plot advancement, but hey, I'm practicing. Thanks for reading the suck, and thanks to all who have reviewed or even just kept reading!

(BTW I've realised the chapters vary wildly in length, let me know if it's too uneven and I'll try and tame it).


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: **Hey folks, on the off-chance anyone's still interested I thought I'd update while I have a chance. So whether you're new to the story or long-suffering, enjoy!

My crush on Eve Myles becomes readily apparent in this chapter.

* * *

Ianto had gone quite happily back to thinking of all the things he was going to do once this day was over when an unpleasant thought struck him; he was on his way to see Gwen. The last time he'd seen her he'd ended up using a kettle as an assault weapon. Admittedly it hadn't actually been her who attacked him and the culprit in question was safely restrained, but how did they know there weren't more of them out there?

A vision of an army of Gwen's flashed through his mind strong enough to make him consider turning around and going back to the bar. He knew it was irrational, but in the vision all the Gwen's wore crisp white wedding dresses.

He was startled out of this unnerving image just before turning into the corridor outside of Gwen's room, an older woman he'd bet good money was Rhys' mother was fuming to a similarly aged man with an exasperated demeanour.

'Typical Americans! Think they control everything!'

The look on the mans face suggested this was hypocritical coming from the woman Ianto assumed was his wife. Having been in the same position mere hours ago he wondered if he should warn them that Gwen could probably hear every word.

'–wasn't how police officers behave, I don't know who she's mixed up with nowadays.'

'Neither do I dear, but seeing as I don't think they're a deaf society she can _probably hear you.'_

_Smart man._

It was strange to think of Rhys having these two people for parents, of the arguments they had over the holidays and the pets they kept. It was strange to think of Rhys as a person with his own life and family when they only ever knew him as Gwen's fiancé. That was the joke of weddings, to bring together all the different worlds you were a part of and watch them collide. Keeping the alien threat under control meant Rhys was an obstacle to be worked around right now, but Ianto guessed Rhys viewed Torchwood in the same way.

The mother continued. 'She knows I think the world of her, but that doesn't mean I have to trust the characters she works with. If I get my hands on that man!'

Ianto winced; Jack had managed to offend both the mother of the bride and the mother of the groom in one cavalier swoop. Seeing how their mothers reacted to stress, Rhys and Gwen's fiery arguments made a lot of sense.

Rhys' parents began to walk towards the corridor Ianto stood in and he backed closer against the wall to hide himself. At this point the well-wishers were all across the street and it would look suspicious if anyone but family was seen with Gwen. He watched as they walked past, mother still ranting, and slipped behind them towards Gwen's room, eyes on the retreating couple.

Backing into the room he closed the door in front of him and released a breath. 'Mothers on the warpath,' he muttered.

'Ianto?'

'Ahhh!' He span around at the sound of his name to see Gwen frowning at him.

She was stood in front of a full-length mirror wearing a quizzical expression that was at odds with her appearance. Her dress was simple, her hair pulled back loosely, effortlessly framing her face. She didn't need any more adornment than that. She was beautiful.

Ianto voiced as much without thinking. She really was.

Gwen sounded suspicious. 'Thank you. What do you want?'

So much for breaking it to her gently.

'Well', he said matter-of-factly, 'status report: threat is contained, guests have been fed a cover story and I would seriously consider saying goodbye to your reception deposit before the day's over.'

'Cover story?'

'Yes. They're across the street now.'

He waited for the anger but Gwen just nodded, totally unphased by the series of disasters befalling her. Ianto thought maybe she'd just had one too many fights today to get worked up any more, but she didn't even call him on his obvious attempt to avoid telling her the cover story which she'd probably need to know for later. It was like she just wasn't interested.

She turned back to the mirror with a glazed expression, reminding Ianto so forcefully of the shapeshifter when it read him that he had to repeat to himself that it was restrained. This was definitely their Gwen, but she seemed smaller somehow. Defeated.

He was wondering if he'd be out of line to ask her what was wrong given how many possible answers there were when she spoke first.

'Do you think I'm being selfish?'

Ianto had been in enough fights with Lisa to know that kind of question had no safe answer.

Gwen turned to him. 'Marrying Rhys, I mean. With this job.'

He opened and closed his mouth a few times, unsure of what to say. She was looking for reassurance and all he could think was how far down he stood in the list of people she should be having this conversation with. He suddenly felt quite ridiculous as he looked at his colleague; they'd been through countless traumas together, seen each other at their absolute worst, and now that they were outside of a life-or-death situation he had no idea what to say to her.

Gwen didn't seem to notice, staring back at her own reflection as she spoke in a distant, almost ethereal tone. 'Sometimes I think I'm being selfish. That I should just let him go, 'cos at least then he'd be safe from all this. He's not safe with me.'

Ianto moved towards her and she turned to face him, beautiful and mournful. 'No one's safe in Torchwood.'

'Gwen–'

'But then I can't protect him either.'

She gritted her teeth, voice thick with emotion.

'Either way, _I lose him.'_

Tears welled up in her eyes and Ianto abandoned his discomfort to cross over to her, knowing it was the right thing to do. He pulled her into a tight hug as she began to cry in earnest, kissing her hair and swaying her slightly as he closed his eyes. She sank into him and pulled him to the floor where they sat rocking back and forth with her white dress fanned out around them. They sat like that, with the dust in the air falling slowly through shafts of coloured sunlight that streamed in through the stained glass window, until finally her sobs subsided.

'Ianto?' Her voice was muffled by his shirt, making her sound very young. 'What should I do?'

'That's a good question,' he replied just as softly, causing her to chuckle slightly, spluttering through her tears. She pulled back and looked at him, massive eyes searching his waiting for an answer, making him painfully aware of how important his next few words would be.

'You love him.' She nodded earnestly even though it wasn't a question, 'I do. I love him so much', tears were threatening to spill over again so Ianto quickly reached out for her hand, and spoke carefully as she grasped it.

'Then Torchwood has nothing to do with it. You can't always protect the people you love,' he swallowed thickly, suddenly finding it hard to talk, 'but you can be with them. While there's still time.'

Gwen looked down and squeezed his hand as a long moment passed around them.

Ianto tried to concentrate on anything but the incredibly personal nature of what he'd just said, and just when he started to become aware of how hard the floor felt beneath him she looked straight into his eyes with the slight frown she got when she was being sincere.

'Thank you.'

He smiled weakly. 'Of course.'

Before they could get lost in the moment again he gestured to her dress. 'Come on, we don't want you creasing that lovely dress, Rhys' mother will take you out next.' She laughed again and let him help her up as she brushed herself down. It was awkward for a second, both unsure of how to slip back into their normal roles after being so open with each other, then Gwen took him by surprise and threw her arms around him, happily this time. She smiled into his chest, breathing in the comfort of his large frame, her head barely reaching his chin.

'See I knew you were good for a chat, I always say you should come to the pub with us.'

He sighed easily. 'Actually I'm banned from our local.'

'You? Nooo, why?!'

'That I think, is a story for another time.'

'What happened, were there cops involved? Ooo I bet I could–'

'Gwen? Are you in there?' Her mother's voice interrupted them through the door and Ianto moved to let her in, standing aside as Gwen turned from questioning him to face her mother who was asking if she was okay. Gwen just smiled beautifully and pulled her into a hug, and Ianto backed out of the room this time, seeing his presence was no longer needed.

In reality he'd only been in there for a few minutes but he felt as if he'd left the room a different person than had entered. He'd been thinking of today as a mini-mission in itself rather than the event it was. Gwen did represent a kind of hope the rest of the Torchwood team had lost somewhere, and it made him want to do everything in his power to see that hope succeed.

Further down the corridor he heard Rhys' voice approaching. It did not sound happy. Ianto turned quickly in the other direction. He was rooting for the couple, but he knew his job well enough to know it probably wasn't going to be that easy.

* * *

**A/N:** I think that adequately covers the, 'angst', portion of our story. Thank you for taking the time to read, if you feel like sparing a few extra seconds for feedback that would be great too.


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